Education, MA

Are you a new student? We recommend taking time to review the New Student Checklist. 

Academic Advising

We are here to support your success and experience while at the MLFTC. Please connect with your assigned advising team, Team Innovate, when you have questions about the program and resources. 

Phone:  602-543-9419

Email:  MLFTCInnovate@asu.edu

Appointments: 

General advising - https://calendly.com/team-innovate 

Plan of Study (iPOS) advising - https://calendly.com/team-innovate/ipos-creation-or-planning 


For tips on preparing for an advising appointment and different ways to connect with us, see the Academic Advising page on this site. 

Click here to meet the academic success team!

Your academic advising team works together to keep you informed, on track for graduation, and supported throughout your program. Here is some information about the roles within the team.

Academic Advisors:


As the core members of your advising team, we will interact with you most frequently. We are experts on your program requirements and are available to assist with program-related questions. We are also familiar with ASU and MLFTC resources and will refer you, as appropriate, to ensure you are fully supported.


Other members of the team:

     Cadie coordinates advising-related functions, working mainly behind the scenes, though you will likely hear from her at some point during your program.

Brian supports students in countries in Africa pursuing graduate certificates, as well as students in China pursuing programs taught exclusively in the Mandarin language

Program Description and Policy Information

Students are encouraged to read and understand the Student Handbook (2023/24), as well as familiarize themselves with the ASU Graduate College Policy Manual. 

For more information on this program please visit: 

ASU students and faculty are expected to act with integrity in their educational pursuits - discover what academic integrity is and why it is important. See the Policy and Code of Conduct page for more detail on academic integrity and other university policies.


Important: This program does not lead to teacher certification. For information on education programs that lead to teacher certification, visit the MLFTC Graduate Program webpage and look for a master's program with teacher certification listed.

Required Courses

Students in the Masters in Education program complete 30 credits of graduate coursework, including a culminating experience. Summer enrollment may be necessary to complete the requirements.

Students in this program select two focus areas of study. The academic advising team will work with you to create a course sequence for degree completion which will include the focus area courses along with the other degree requirement coursework. It is important to note that if you take a course out of sequence, your anticipated graduation date and/or financial aid eligibility may be affected since courses are not offered every session.

You will choose two of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College focus areas below. You have the option of replacing one of the two MLFTC focus areas with a focal area from our ASU partner colleges. Click on the drop down menus below to explore your options.

MLFTC focus areas (choose two)

*Students interested in the special education endorsement should speak to an advisor since it includes additional requirements. 

ASU partner college focus areas (optional to replace one MLFTC focus area)

Elective Course Options

This program includes the completion of elective coursework for the remaining program credit requirements. Elective course options can come from the same or different focus areas or, with special permission, from other ASU colleges. A list of elective course options is available to review on this page. 

Note: To access this and all ASU Google sites, you must be logged in to your ASU Google account rather than a personal Google or email account.

Culminating Experience

The culminating experience for the Masters in Education program is the development of an independent applied inquiry study that explores and analyzes an education problem incorporating expertise from, and addressing one or more problems related to, the student’s focus areas. In the final semester of the program, students will enroll in EDU 593 Applied Project.

In this course, students learn the basics of applied research study design and development to engage in inquiry in education drawing from the student’s focal areas and incorporating research methodologies appropriate to the proposed study goals, context, and audiences. Students learn how to identify a problem to study, develop appropriate research questions, create and justify a research design and methods for data collection and analysis in preparation for fieldwork that may be conducted as part of their work post-graduation. At the end of this course, students should be poised to conduct high-quality applied research centered on the study of educational issues that incorporate interdisciplinary areas of expertise. More broadly, they should understand the role of practitioner researchers in generating knowledge that can be used to improve educational practice. The course culminates in a final research proposal.

Students must earn a grade of “B” of higher in the culminating experience course to graduate from the program.

Plan of Study

The iPOS is an agreement between the student, academic advising unit, and Graduate College that maps the requirements for degree completion. You are required to submit your iPOS prior to applying for graduation. An inital iPOS submission goes through a review process for the academic advising unit and the Graduate College to determine if approval can be granted. Approval from both departments is required for students to graduate and register for their culminating experience. 

It is important to maintain the iPOS throughout the duration of the program to avoid inaccuracies at the time of graduation, which could affect your ability to graduate. If you need to make changes to your iPOS it is recommended to make changes to your iPOS as soon as possible to avoid future consequences. 

If you have questions about submitting your initial iPOS, we invite you to schedule an appointment with us - https://calendly.com/team-innovate/ipos-creation-or-planning.